[steamboat]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Pic

Is that a straight pipe to the front, and OE to the rear turbo? That seems like a terrible setup. The rear is going to be overworked, and the car won't be tunable to capitalize on the front.

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by steamboat

Is that a straight pipe to the front, and OE to the rear turbo? That seems like a terrible setup. The rear is going to be overworked, and the car won't be tunable to capitalize on the front.

So you think someone made the effort to upgrade the front by putting together his own inlets wouldn't bother with the rear as well... Some of you guys on this forum really don't think with your head much, do you...

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by jyeah

I'm looking to get the radiator, too. I also have the stock location inlets. Would I run into the same problem?

If you already have less than 1/2 to 1/4" of clearance between your inlets and the belt, this likely won't work for you.

[limitdown]

Originally Posted by jyeah

I'm looking to get the radiator, too. I also have the stock location inlets. Would I run into the same problem?

I replaced the front inlet with one from Hexon and it's working well for me. Wayne at Hexon doesn't claim fitment, but I had no fitment issues.
Hexon's front inlet has a brace that can be bolted to the car, which prevents movement and potential crashes into the belt.

[steamboat]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

So you think someone made the effort to upgrade the front by putting together his own inlets wouldn't bother with the rear as well... Some of you guys on this forum really don't think with your head much, do you...

Even with similar ID pipes, the rear will be overworked (i.e. working harder than the front). Given the constraint of not relocating the coolant tank, it works, but I don't see the benefit. I don't know of anyone producing a kit like that, so why go through the trouble of making a custom kit that doesn't perform as well as a relocation kit (which is why it hadn't occurred to me they would upgrade the rear as well.)

Apologies for detracting from the radiator, which looks great and is now on my upgrade list.

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by steamboat

Even with similar ID pipes, the rear will be overworked (i.e. working harder than the front). Given the constraint of not relocating the coolant tank, it works, but I don't see the benefit. I don't know of anyone producing a kit like that, so why go through the trouble of making a custom kit that doesn't perform as well as a relocation kit (which is why it hadn't occurred to me they would upgrade the rear as well.)

Apologies for detracting from the radiator, which looks great and is now on my upgrade list.

Rear will always be overworked slightly. Even with hot side inlets, the rear inlet pipe will be longer than the front. But some extra length is no where near as the sharp ID reduction. You have to consider that.

Anyway, that setup is on the banned forum. You can look at the testing result that OP did over there.

[dquach93]

Originally Posted by limitdown

Note that I had fitment issues with CSF's 6AT radiator and stock-location inlets. The front inlet was rubbing against the pulleys. Somehow my indy was able to get Hexon's front inlet to work for me.
Most people don't get thicker radiators, so vendors don't design their inlets around that.

I actually installed this on my 325i N52 2006 e90 two nights ago;

I havent really found an organized place to post this at, but fitment with the CSF 7001 radiator was spot on; except the sensor on the passenger side hits the screw that holds the fan on. Another note is that this radiator holds more fluid than the regular ones (I used exactly two gallons of BMW premix), whereas in the past i would just need 1.8 gallons.

I should also mention that there are essentially 3 different versions of radiators being discussed:

1. Stock/OEM radiator (approx 100$)
2. CSF upgraded aluminum core radiator (approx 125$)
3. CSF full aluminum (including tank) Radiator - model 7001 (approx 340$)[the one i am running on]


325i/328i/330i e90 Automatic's have the same radiator and Manual's have the same radiator; they are not interchangable.



hope this helps

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by dquach93

I actually installed this on my 325i N52 2006 e90 two nights ago;

I havent really found an organized place to post this at, but fitment with the CSF 7001 radiator was spot on; except the sensor on the passenger side hits the screw that holds the fan on. Another note is that this radiator holds more fluid than the regular ones (I used exactly two gallons of BMW premix), whereas in the past i would just need 1.8 gallons.

I should also mention that there are essentially 3 different versions of radiators being discussed:

1. Stock/OEM radiator (approx 100$)
2. CSF upgraded aluminum core radiator (approx 125$)
3. CSF full aluminum (including tank) Radiator - model 7001 (approx 340$)[the one i am running on]


325i/328i/330i e90 Automatic's have the same radiator and Manual's have the same radiator; they are not interchangable.



hope this helps

Not here to crash your party. But why upgrading the radiator on the 325i? You might very well end up over cooling the system since the duty cycle for the water pump cannot be adjusted on these cars.

[dquach93]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Not here to crash your party. But why upgrading the radiator on the 325i? You might very well end up over cooling the system since the duty cycle for the water pump cannot be adjusted on these cars.

the radiator tank on my car was leaking for a few weeks now and just a few days ago, it started leaking more, im not really a fan of plastic tanks, which is what made me pull the trigger.

the thermostat wouldnt activate until the same temperature, so wouldnt that not overcool the system?

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by dquach93

the radiator tank on my car was leaking for a few weeks now and just a few days ago, it started leaking more, im not really a fan of plastic tanks, which is what made me pull the trigger.

the thermostat wouldnt activate until the same temperature, so wouldnt that not overcool the system?

The thermostat on these cars are electrically controlled. Probably not an issue for guys on West Coast, but these radiator will overcool the engine in sub-freezing temp on a N54 engine if you don't tape up the grilles (quite of few have reported this, including me), probably more so on a N52.

You might want to check on the coolant temp on your car since there is no data on the N52 engine...

[dquach93]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

The thermostat on these cars are electrically controlled. Probably not an issue for guys on West Coast, but these radiator will overcool the engine in sub-freezing temp on a N54 engine if you don't tape up the grilles (quite of few have reported this, including me), probably more so on a N52.

You might want to check on the coolant temp on your car since there is no data on the N52 engine...

il check after an extended drive and post my finding here.

[techwhiz]

I just put the CSF (Thanks Mike at Xtreme Power House!) in my car this past weekend. What a BITCH to change the radiator on this car!!!!!

I came from an e36 M3 where a radiator was a 45 minute job.
Well....
I bought new upper and lower radiator hoses and the transmission heat exchange hose.
Easiest way to get the radiator out is just cut the dang radiator to exchanger hose.

Anyway, fitment of the CSF going in is a little tight.
Not so tight that it doesn't fit. It just takes lots of deep breathing.
I do like that the fan retainers are screw down to the radiator.
I broke the stock ones getting the fan shroud out.

I will probably get the 335is assembly because with the oil cooler on a sport package car, the fan shroud is a pain to come out.

Also, no need to pull the intercooler to get to the drain plug.
The Bentley manual says pull the lower hose and use a larger pan to catch the coolant.

Anyway, I lost most of the skin on my forearms.
Definitely a 3 beer job.

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by techwhiz

I just put the CSF in my car this past weekend. What a BITCH to change the radiator on this car!!!!!

I came from an e36 M3 where a radiator was a 45 minute job.
Well....
I bought new upper and lower radiator hoses and the transmission heat exchange hose.
Easiest way to get the radiator out is just cut the dang radiator to exchanger hose.

Anyway, fitment of the CSF going in is a little tight.
Not so tight that it doesn't fit. It just takes lots of deep breathing.
I do like that the fan retainers are screw down to the radiator.
I broke the stock ones getting the fan shroud out.

I will probably get the 335is assembly because with the oil cooler on a sport package car, the fan shroud is a pain to come out.

Also no need to pull the intercooler to get to the drain plug.
The Bentley manual says pull the lower hose and use a larger pan to catch the coolant.

Anyway, I lost most of the skin on my forearms.
Definitely a 3 beer job.

My mechabic did it in front of me last year in just a bit over an hour. And that's back when he didn't have a lift and did it on jack stand. Not sure what you were doing to be such a PIA.

[techwhiz]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

My mechabic did it in front of me last year in just a bit over an hour. And that's back when he didn't have a lift and did it on jack stand. Not sure what you were doing to be such a PIA.

Well, taking my time since I haven't done it before.
That includes getting the car in the air and taking the under panel off, etc.
That also included bleeding the cooling system.
My time was from the time I put the car in the air until it was ready for a test drive.
I doubt he got all that done in a bit over an hour.
I'm sure I can do it faster if I had to do it again.

Also is your car a sports package car?
The oil cooler lines and different filter housing get in the way.

As a side note, I found that my car in cold weather will throw a code if I don't give some additional time at low speed. There is an interval timer and if it times out before the car reaches temperature you throw a code.

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by techwhiz

Well, taking my time since I haven't done it before.
That includes getting the car in the air and taking the under panel off, etc.
That also included bleeding the cooling system.
My time was from the time I put the car in the air until it was ready for a test drive.
I doubt he got all that done in a bit over an hour.
I'm sure I can do it faster if I had to do it again.

Also is your car a sports package car?
The oil cooler lines and different filter housing get in the way.

As a side note, I found that my car in cold weather will throw a code if I don't give some additional time at low speed. There is an interval timer and if it times out before the car reaches temperature you throw a code.

Well, I have aftermarket oil cooler with flexible oil lines, so probably that's why it was easier.

Yes, in extreme cold weather you might throw a thermostats code due to the DME. But as I mentioned, masking taping the kidney grill works well for now, lol, until someone find the water pump tables in the DME flash.

[kimoboy]

So using CSF radiator will lower my engine oil temp !!!!

[Jeffman]

Does the CSF race radiator fit with inlets installed?

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by Jeffman

Does the CSF race radiator fit with inlets installed?

Although ever so slightly thicker, I don't think it will be a problem. With most inlet installs the issue is keeping the inlets away from the engine side of things.

[limitdown]

I posted this in another thread, and wanted to share my great experience here as well.
So I finally got Ken/Wedge to modify my tune to target lower temps. What a massive difference it made. My coolant temps dropped substantially, which helped drop oil temps as well (these 2 sorta go hand-in-hand). You can see in the screenshot that the max coolant temp that was hit with the OEM radiator was 226F, while the max temp hit with the CSF was only 201F.
These are screenshots during very spirited driving on the same road under the same 90F+ and 70%+ humidity conditions.
The CSF radiator's capabilities really came to life after the tune adjustment.
I've been boosting 21psi on 93 pump for daily driving to/from work for over 1yr, 12k+ miles. Previously, I ran Cobb Stg2+ for many years.
For us 6AT guys, the radiator also cools the heat exchanger and transmission, so the CSF sorta kills 3 birds with 1 stone (coolant, engine oil, trans fluid).

[Gohan335i7]

If this really does help with temps & other such things better than the stock radiator then I am in with this upgrade. Relatively cheap also. Nice 👍🏻

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by limitdown

I posted this in another thread, and wanted to share my great experience here as well.
So I finally got Ken/Wedge to modify my tune to target lower temps. What a massive difference it made. My coolant temps dropped substantially, which helped drop oil temps as well (these 2 sorta go hand-in-hand). You can see in the screenshot that the max coolant temp that was hit with the OEM radiator was 226F, while the max temp hit with the CSF was only 201F.
These are screenshots during very spirited driving on the same road under the same 90F+ and 70%+ humidity conditions.
The CSF radiator's capabilities really came to life after the tune adjustment.
I've been boosting 21psi on 93 pump for daily driving to/from work for over 1yr, 12k+ miles. Previously, I ran Cobb Stg2+ for many years.
For us 6AT guys, the radiator also cools the heat exchanger and transmission, so the CSF sorta kills 3 birds with 1 stone (coolant, engine oil, trans fluid).

Not sure if you got this from me or not but yea it's night and day. Best thing I did to my car was having Ken adjust those cooling tables.

[jacie6056]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Well, I have aftermarket oil cooler with flexible oil lines, so probably that's why it was easier.

Yes, in extreme cold weather you might throw a thermostats code due to the DME. But as I mentioned, masking taping the kidney grill works well for now, lol, until someone find the water pump tables in the DME flash.

Did you tape it from outside? Can you show me the photo too demonstrate how you tape it? Does it look weird?I would like to know if it looks okay!! That sounds an really brilliant idea for me.

Right now I am in the same situation as you had before. Last month when I went to Lake Tahoe. The outside temp was below 32F. The car took for ever to warm up. No mention the heater can not blow appropriate heat from the vent. The coolant temp shows 69F on my gauge.

The worst case is I swap back to BMW radiator which I really don't want to!

Many thanks